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First Amended Complaint Alleges As Follows Case 1:20-cv-10541-CM Document 48 Filed 03/05/21 Page 1 of 30 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK In Re: New York City Policing During Summer 2020 Demonstrations No. 20-CV-8924 (CM) (GWG) WOOD FIRST AMENDED This filing is related to: CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT AND Charles Henry Wood, on behalf of himself JURY DEMAND and all others similarly situated, v. City of New York et al., No. 20-CV-10541 Plaintiff Charles Henry Wood, on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated, for his First Amended Complaint alleges as follows: PRELIMINARY STATEMENT 1.! When peaceful protesters took to the streets of New York City after the murder of George Floyd in the summer of 2020, the NYPD sought to suppress the protests with an organized campaign of police brutality. 2.! A peaceful protest in Mott Haven on June 4, 2020 stands as one of the most egregious examples of the NYPD’s excessive response. 3.! It also illustrates the direct responsibility that the leaders of the City and the NYPD bear for the NYPD’s conduct. 4.! Before curfew went into effect for the evening, police in riot gear surrounded peaceful protesters and did not give them an opportunity to disperse. 5.! The police then charged the protesters without warning; attacked them indiscriminately with shoves, blows, and baton strikes; handcuffed them with extremely tight plastic zip ties; and detained them overnight in crowded and unsanitary conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic. 1 Case 1:20-cv-10541-CM Document 48 Filed 03/05/21 Page 2 of 30 6.! The NYPD’s highest-ranking uniformed officer, Chief of Department Terence Monahan, was present at the protest and personally oversaw and directed the NYPD’s response. 7.! Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said that the NYPD executed its planned response to the Mott Haven protest “nearly flawlessly.” 8.! Mayor Bill de Blasio explained that the protest was “something the NYPD saw coming” and suggested that “observers for City Hall” who were present at the scene updated him on events as they unfolded. 9.! This deliberate campaign of brutality, orchestrated and sanctioned at the highest levels of City government, was unlawful and had no justification. 10.! There was no threat, let alone an imminent one, to the police. The police were not in danger. The police were the danger. 11.! Plaintiff Henry Wood was one of the NYPD’s many victims in Mott Haven on June 4, 2020. 12.! Because Mr. Wood demonstrated peacefully in support of a cause he believed in, the NYPD struck him with a baton, threw him to the ground, kneed him in the back, tied his wrists so tightly that his hand swelled up like a baseball, and kept him overnight without food or water in a crowded cage. 13.! This brutal repression of core political speech offends democratic values and violates the United States Constitution. JURISDICTION AND VENUE 14.! The Court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1343(a). 2 Case 1:20-cv-10541-CM Document 48 Filed 03/05/21 Page 3 of 30 15.! Venue lies in the Southern District of New York under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b)(2) because a substantial part of the events giving rise to Plaintiff’s claims occurred in the Bronx. PARTIES 16.! Plaintiff Charles Henry Wood, who goes by Henry, is a 31-year-old man who resides in Queens. 17.! Defendant City of New York is a municipal corporation organized under the laws of New York with its principal place of business in Manhattan. 18.! Defendant Bill de Blasio is the Mayor of the City of New York, whose workplace is at City Hall in Manhattan. 19.! Defendant Dermot Shea is the Commissioner of the NYPD, a civilian position, whose workplace is at One Police Plaza in Manhattan. 20.! Defendant Terence Monahan is the Chief of Department of the NYPD, the department’s highest ranking uniformed member of the service, whose workplace is at One Police Plaza in Manhattan. 21.! Defendant Police Officer Ismael Hernandez Carpio (Shield #19759) is an NYPD police officer. 22.! Defendants John and Jane Does #1-10 are NYPD uniformed members of the service whose identities are unknown at this time. 23.! Defendants de Blasio, Shea, Monahan are hereinafter referred to as the “Supervisory Defendants.” 24.! Defendants Hernandez Carpio and John and Jane Does #1-10 are hereinafter referred to as the “Individual Defendants.” 3 Case 1:20-cv-10541-CM Document 48 Filed 03/05/21 Page 4 of 30 25.! The Supervisory Defendants and the Individual Defendants are sued in their individual capacities. JURY DEMAND 26.! Plaintiff demands a jury trial. FACTS New Yorkers Take to the Streets to Express Their Outrage at Police Brutality, and the NYPD Responds with Police Brutality 27.! On May 25, 2020, four Minneapolis police officers murdered George Floyd. Derek Chauvin held his knee on Mr. Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds as Mr. Floyd suffocated. 28.! Outraged by Mr. Floyd’s murder, the recent killings of other Black Americans by police, and a long history of systemic police racism and brutality, protesters took to the streets across the country, including in New York City. 29.! Widespread protests began in New York City on May 29 and continued periodically through the summer of 2020. 30.! The overwhelming majority of protests were entirely peaceful. 31.! In the first few days of protests, some isolated and much-publicized instances of theft and violence also occurred. 32.! The NYPD began using excessive and indiscriminate force against peaceful protesters from the beginning. By way of illustration and example: 33.! On May 29, Dounya Zayer was standing peacefully on the sidewalk filming police activity during a protest in Brooklyn. 34.! NYPD Officer Vincent D’Andraia called her a “stupid fucking bitch” and forcefully shoved her to the ground, leading to serious injuries requiring hospitalization. 4 Case 1:20-cv-10541-CM Document 48 Filed 03/05/21 Page 5 of 30 35.! Dozens of NYPD personnel walked by as the violence occurred happened and did nothing to stop Officer D’Andraia or aid Ms. Zayer. 36.! On May 30, a peaceful protester in Queens was standing in front of police with his hands up, wearing a mask in compliance with public health guidance. 37.! For no reason, an NYPD officer pulled down his mask and sprayed him point-blank with pepper spray. 38.! On May 30, New York State Senator Zellnor Myrie and New York State Assemblywoman Diana Richardson were pepper sprayed while peacefully protesting outside the Barclays Center in Downtown Brooklyn. 39.! Sen. Myrie was, at the time, wearing a neon yellow shirt identifying himself and his office. 40.! At approximately 7:00 p.m. on June 1, a group of peaceful protesters walked in front of a line of police cars on a quiet block of Dean Street in Crown Heights. 41.! NYPD members of the service said of the protesters, over the police scanner, “Run them over” and “Shoot those motherfuckers.” 42.! Another member of the service said, “Don’t put that over the air.” The NYPD Employs a Policy of Surrounding, Charging, and Assaulting Peaceful Protesters 43.! Such violence was not accidental. It was a policy choice.1 1 Additional facts concerning the NYPD’s policies, practices, and customs in responding to the 2020 George Floyd / Black Lives Matter protests are set forth in the pleadings in all four other consolidated cases—Payne et al. v. de Blasio et al., No. 20- CV-8924; Sierra et al. v. City of New York et al., No. 20-CV-10291; People of the State of New York v. City of New York, No. 21-CV-322; and Sow v. City of New York, No. 21- CV-533. Plaintiff hereby incorporates the factual allegations in the operative pleadings— meaning any amended complaint filed in each of those cases, or if not, the original complaint—in each of those actions into this document by reference. 5 Case 1:20-cv-10541-CM Document 48 Filed 03/05/21 Page 6 of 30 44.! At peaceful George Floyd / Black Lives Matter protests throughout the City during the summer of 2020, the NYPD employed a deliberate policy of surrounding, charging, and indiscriminately assaulting protesters.2 45.! On May 29 at around 7:00 pm, a group of protesters peacefully crossed from Manhattan to the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge in Brooklyn. 46.! A group of hundreds of NYPD personnel in riot gear stopped the protesters there. 47.! The NYPD charged the protesters without warning, indiscriminately shoved peaceful protesters to the ground, and struck them with batons, including from behind. 48.! On May 29 at around 9:20 p.m. in the vicinity of 608 Pacific Street, Brooklyn, a group of approximately 25 peaceful protesters was chanting, among other things, “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot.” 49.! Without warning, NYPD personnel surrounded the group, as well as approximately ten uninvolved bystanders. 50.! The police charged the peaceful protesters, violently forced protesters against a wall, pushed protesters to the ground, and struck protesters with batons. 51.! On May 31, New York State Senator John Liu was with a group of peaceful protesters who crossed the Manhattan Bridge from Brooklyn onto Canal Street in Lower Manhattan. 2 Surrounding protesters is also called “kettling” or “corralling” in certain contexts. 6 Case 1:20-cv-10541-CM Document 48 Filed 03/05/21 Page 7 of 30 52.! According to Sen. Liu’s testimony at a public hearing held by New York Attorney General Letitia James (the “AG Hearing”), the group peacefully marched across Canal Street, turned onto Church Street, and was stopped by police from proceeding further.
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